Chinese shopkeeper shot in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES - A Chinese shopkeeper was shot and wounded Thursday in the Argentine capital city.

The 23-year-old Chinese was shot in his belly while he was working in his supermarket at the district of Monserrat. He was treated in a hospital and his injury was not life-threatening, local police said.

The gunman, who escaped immediately after the shooting, was still at large.

The shopkeeper had been blackmailed for $100,000 when his supermarket opened two weeks ago, the police said. He asked police for help while dealing with the blackmailer.

Although plainclothes police were patrolling around the supermarket, no policemen were seen hereabout when the shooting happened, an eyewitness said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Argentina is consulting with the Argentine police, calling for solving the case as soon as possible and providing more protection for Chinese nationals in Argentina.

Since January, some Chinese supermarkets in Argentina had been attacked. Nineteen Chinese had been killed or wounded in the first four months in similar assaults.

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